Adjustable Nacelle Door Seal for Gas Turbine Engine
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional nacelle doors for gas turbine engines require customization to fit specific openings, leading to increased manufacturing costs and limiting interchangeability across different aircraft and nacelle types, as they cannot effectively adjust to varying sizes of openings.
Innovation Solution
An adjustable nacelle assembly featuring a door panel, a nacelle wall, and a sleeve with a U-shaped cover and cam mechanism that allows the sleeve to move relative to the door panel, adjusting the gap size between the door panel and the nacelle wall, and includes a seal to block airflow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional nacelle doors are customized to fit specific openings, then the seal fit and aerodynamic integrity are improved, but manufacturing costs increase and interchangeability across different aircraft is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The door seal assembly incorporates an adjustable sleeve that can be positioned at different locations along the door panel perimeter. This dynamic adjustment capability allows the same seal assembly to adapt to multiple opening sizes and configurations, resolving the contradiction between achieving precise seal fit for specific openings and maintaining interchangeability across different aircraft types.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the positional parameter of the adjustable sleeve along the door panel perimeter to accommodate different opening dimensions. By varying this parameter, the seal assembly maintains optimal seal fit for different aircraft configurations without requiring custom manufacturing for each type.
2Reliability
If conventional nacelle doors are customized for specific opening sizes, then the sealing performance is improved, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The adjustable sleeve mechanism enables a single door seal assembly design to serve multiple functions across different aircraft types and opening sizes. This universal design approach maintains reliable sealing performance while reducing manufacturing complexity by eliminating the need for multiple custom-designed seal assemblies.
Solution Approach 2:
The dynamic adjustability of the sleeve allows the same sealing assembly to adapt to various opening configurations, maintaining sealing reliability without requiring complex custom manufacturing for each specific application.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the door panel is made adjustable to fit various openings, then interchangeability and manufacturing cost are improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The door seal assembly is segmented into distinct components including the adjustable sleeve, seal element, and mounting mechanism. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function independently while working together to provide overall adaptability to different opening sizes, managing complexity through modular design.
Solution Approach 2:
The adjustable sleeve provides dynamic adaptability to different opening configurations through a relatively simple mechanical adjustment mechanism, achieving opening size adaptability without proportionally increasing overall device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A door panel is included in a nacelle assembly for use with a gas turbine engine to block and allow access selectively to the gas turbine engine. The nacelle assembly includes a nacelle wall, a sleeve, and the door panel. The nacelle wall is arranged at least partway around the gas turbine engine and formed to define an opening that extends through the nacelle wall. The door panel is located in the opening and movable relative to the nacelle wall. The sleeve is coupled with one of the nacelle wall and the door panel and configured to move relative to the nacelle wall or the door panel toward and away from the other of the nacelle wall and door panel to adjust a size of a gap between the door panel and the nacelle wall.